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Iago
Iago is a minor character and formerly Jafar's parrot companion in the Kingdom Hearts Unlimited Saga. He is currently a trusted member of Mickey's Keyblade Gang due to his vast knowledge of the Hellfire Organization's secrets during his tenure in the group. Story Before Birth of A New Era Long ago, during the time period of which Jafar served as the apprentice to the aging sorceress Amara, Iago was found squawking in a cage in the bazaar, though Jafar did sense that the bird had been enchanted and given sentience far beyond any animal he had encountered before. He immediately purchased the parrot, who shared his devious mind, and was eternally grateful to Jafar for freeing him - the two formed a strong bond, and saw each other as equals...much more than they did with Amara, who Jafar had correctly guessed would eventually backstab him and keep all the power for herself when their evil plan had come to fruition. Iago would later go on to help Jafar in getting rid of their mistress and establishing the sorcerer as the royal vizier of Agrabah, though to make their scheme work, he had to hide his intelligence and play the part of a dumb parrot while in the presence of the sultan. Birth of A New Era Iago plays a minor role as Jafar's spy within the ranks of the Hellfire Organization, working alongside the raven Diablo to keep a close eye on the Keyblade Heroes while they embarked on their separate journeys, and reporting back the details to Maleficent at every opportunity. He later takes part in the Walpurgis Night Dance in Emperor Palpatine's throne room while the villains toast their coming success with the inevitable forging of the Christ-Blade and the Silver Imperium Crystal in their possession. Iago is seen again during the beginning of the Battle for the Keyblade Graveyard alongside Jafar, but the parrot immediately gets knocked unconscious by Bugs Bunny bashing him in the head with a rock, and he is forced to retreat with the other villains when the Christ-Blade shatters for good. In Between BoANE and The Journey During the pact formation of the Hellfire Organization, Iago bears witness to Maleficent and her closest generals allying themselves with the other villains they had gathered in exchange for helping the evil faerie find the legendary 10 Princesses of Heart and the Final Keyhole. The Journey 10 years after the fall of Radiant Garden and the rise of the Forbidden Mountains as the one true power of the Enchanted Dominion, Maleficent and her forces were still gathering the Princesses into their clutches, with Jafar having long suspected Princess Jasmine as the Princess of his world and desiring the power of the Djinni Lamp so that he may use its wishes to fulfill all of his desired goals. Iago remains by his master's side in their plotting to find the lamp, even as Maleficent begins to grow suspicious of their attempt to betray her. Iago is first seen during his and Jafar's confidential visit to the desert, in the middle of the night, where they are met by a thief, Gazeem. After forcefully handing over a stolen piece of a golden scarab, courtesy of Iago, Jafar is able to create the completed Golden Scarab Beetle Key to Power, which reveals the location of the Cave of Wonders. Gazeem is ordered to enter in order to steal the magic lamp (as Jafar wishes to use the Genie to take control of Agrabah), but loses his heart to the Darkhearts in the process, as a result of being unworthy to enter. A frustrated Iago voices his annoyance, believing their mission to retrieve the lamp will forever be an impossible task to complete. Jafar, however, remains level-headed, and assures Iago that the lamp will be in their possession once they find the "diamond in the rough". After returning to Agrabah, Jafar and Iago visit the Sultan, needing his diamond ring to uncover the individual worthy to enter the cave. Here, Iago shows his disdain for the Sultan; specifically due to the ruler constantly shoving "moldy, disgusting crackers" down his throat. Jafar reassures Iago that they will no longer have to abide to the Sultan's reign in good time, with Iago gleefully plotting to extract revenge once that time has arrived. After discovering that the youthful thief Aladdin is the one worthy enough to enter the cave, he travels to the Cave of Wonders with Jafar, though the mission goes awry, resulting in both the lamp, and Aladdin, being lost. Afterwards, at the palace, Iago concocts a new plan involving a rise to power. He advises Jafar to marry Jasmine, which would result in the vizier legally becoming the sultan. Once he holds such power, Iago continues, they'll send Jasmine to Maleficent and kill her father. Jafar agrees, but their plot is interrupted by a new coming prince—Ali. Jafar and Iago soon discover that Ali is Aladdin, and holds ownership over the lamp. Iago is sent to retrieve it, doing so by cunningly disguising his voice as Jasmine to lure Aladdin away from the lamp. With the lamp in his possession, Jafar takes over the kingdom, bestowing Iago with his own turban, to signify his leadership, as well as his own lounge area near the throne, with a throw pillow and plenty of fruit for his pleasure. After scarfing crackers down the dethroned Sultan's throat, Iago wallows in luxury before noticing Aladdin trying to steal back the lamp. Abu, Aladdin's monkey, tackles Iago to prevent him from alarming Jafar, which leads to a tussle. As a battle ensues between Jafar and Aladdin, Iago watches sadistically, rooting for Jafar to eliminate the threat, until Jafar wishes to become an all-powerful genie. Unfortunately for Jafar, this means an eternity of slavery and imprisonment, though his greed and lust for power made him oblivious to this. Iago, suddenly realizing what his master got himself into, immediately grabbed the black lamp before anyone could notice, and flew around with it for the duration of the last part of the battle. As Jafar is quickly sucked into his lamp, Iago tries to flee, only to be grabbed by the villain, and dragged into the lamp, as well. Trapped and annoyed, Iago berates Jafar on his foolish decision, just as the two villains are sent to the Cave of Wonders to endure 10,000 years of imprisonment. The two are later rescued by Diablo, who takes them back to Maleficent so that they may participate in the final battle at the Forbidden Mountains and open the Final Keyhole with Jafar's dark magical power. In the end, Jafar and Iago are sucked back into the lamp, and remain trapped under Merlin's custody up until the defeat of the Horned King and the sealing of the Door to Hell. At this, a great burst of light returns everyone back to their homeworlds as if nothing had ever happened for the past ten years. The Chain of Memories/Reversed Awakenings When Oswald entered the basements of Castle Oblivion, the residual dark energies in his heart and the memories connected to it magically brought back Maleficent in a ghostly form, and by that extension, the souls of the deceased villains followed her in plotting their revenge on Mickey for defeating them before. Jafar and Iago, being among the few villains still alive who were brought to Castle Oblivion by the power of The Dark Gate, are immediately partnered up with the wicked vizier of Baghdad, Zigzag, in his efforts to try and conquer the Golden Land with the power of the One-Eye army and the Golden Orbs. The scoundrels are of course defeated, though Jafar manages to get Iago to take his lamp to safety before Zigzag is killed by a mob of crocodiles, and they end up having to confront Oswald and his Redemption Squad in a memory version of Agrabah's Cave of Wonders. In the end, Jafar is sent back to the lamp, though Iago this time is able to escape imprisonment and ends up getting himself drafted into the Gang of Idiots in order to help Oswald overcome the last few doubts he needs to get rid of if he is ever to redeem himself in Mickey's eyes. Iago, all the while, begins to harbor doubts of his own on whether or not being free from Jafar would help change his life for the better, though he doesn't have long to ponder on the decision when the Lich King Phineas banishes him back to the lamp when the parrot tries to help protect Oswald from the lich's wrath. A Year of Misery For the duration of this period, Iago remains trapped with Jafar inside the lamp, though Pete unsuccessfully tries to free them in order to get them back into the fold of the Hellfire Organization. An Empire of Dreams After spending some time in the sunken Cave of Wonders, Iago flies to the surface getting him and the trapped Jafar out. He is freed from Jafar's lamp and his master demands that he frees him too, but he becomes frustrated with Jafar's insults and being treated like a slave. After Iago claims (with a degree of accuracy) that he does most of the work and comes up with the schemes, Jafar retaliates by saying that without him, Iago would still be in a cage in the bazaar, squawking "Polly want a cracker!". With that remark, Iago dumps Jafar, still trapped in the lamp, into a well. He returns to Agrabah, claiming that he needs nobody's help, and that he'll be running the town within a week. After discovering Aladdin now lives in the palace, Iago decides to use Aladdin's good nature to return to the palace, but Aladdin is not taken in by his act. When he encountered Mickey and the others again, he tried to convince them that he had turned over a new leaf, although only Goofy seemed to believe him. But as the heroes chase after Iago, all of them bump into Abis Mal and his gang of Darkhearts-Thieves, and a brawl ensues, ending with Aladdin and Abu cornered by the thieves. In a turn of events, Iago (unintentionally) saves Aladdin from Abis Mal and his thugs, by causing them to crash into a chicken cart, destroying the eggs. The upset egg merchant calls for the guards and Razoul and his goons recognize Abis Mal and his thieves and the guards chase the thieves into the distance. In gratitude, Aladdin brings him into the palace, but locks him in a cage to give himself time to explain everything to the Sultan and Jasmine, and convince him that Iago has turned over a new feather. Abu unintentionally lets Iago escape (he intended to open the cage to scare Iago for Rajah being nearby as a joke, but it backfired), resulting in Iago being chased by Rajah into the dining room, ruining an important dinner and blowing his cover. Aladdin protects Iago from the Sultan and his guards at the expense of losing the Sultan's favor, and Jasmine's trust. Feeling sorry over what had happened, Iago wanted to prove to Aladdin that he could be of help to him. He did so first by taking Jafar's lamp from Pete, which proved his loyalty. Then, Genie talks Iago into persuading Jasmine to forgive Aladdin with the song "Forget About Love," in which he uses reverse-psychology to tell Jasmine that she's absolutely right about wanting to be alone, and that love is over-rated, while reminding her of how wonderful love really feels, and she realizes how much she still loves Aladdin despite their argument. Soon enough, Iago is enjoying the Royal Treatment, planning his future, believing that Aladdin will become the Grand Vizier, and that when he becomes Sultan, Iago will become the Grand Vizier. He is however horrified when suddenly, the lights go out and Jafar (set free by Abis Mal and Pete's Gang) appears out of the darkness! Jafar subtly threatens Iago, who is intelligent enough to know he will suffer if he disobeys again, into luring Aladdin and the Sultan into a trap. Iago talks with Aladdin and Jasmine, and finds it surprisingly easy to persuade Aladdin into taking the Sultan on a carpet ride without Genie. Jasmine apologies to Iago for doubting him. Then Iago has a sudden flash of conscience to warn Aladdin and Jasmine of what danger they are in, but Jafar's evilly omniscient eyes suddenly appear on the curtain above Al and Jas, and fearful for his safety, Iago refrains from warning them. As soon as Aladdin and Jasmine leave, Jafar appears from nowhere and sadistically praises the ashamed parrot for following through on his evil plan. Iago's guilt over how he has treated the trusting Aladdin increases visibly to a degree where he appears sickened by his own actions, especially during the Sultan's kidnap. He frees the captured Genie to save Aladdin from being beheaded when he's framed for murdering the Sultan through Jafar's schemes, in the process also freeing Jasmine, the Sultan, Carpet and Abu. Now that his debts are repaid, Iago leaves them to fight Jafar alone, somewhat surprised that they do not hold him to any further obligations. But in the struggle against Jafar, when all hope seems lost, Iago returns unexpectedly, having been scolded and encouraged into helping by the cloaked Oswald, still trapped in the Horned King's form since the battle of the Jedi Temple Ruins. He grabs the lamp and attempts to hand it to Aladdin, but is hit by an energy bolt by Jafar and horribly injured. Aladdin and the others believe that all is truly lost, but with his last ounce of strength Iago kicks Jafar's lamp into the boiling lava, destroying Jafar. Aladdin saves the helpless Iago from falling into the lava himself, but his injuries are so severe that for a moment everybody believes him dead. However this is not so, as Genies lack the power to kill Iago coughs "You'd be surprised what you can live through." The fully redeemed parrot officially turns from bad to good and is welcomed into the Palace, although he ends up upset when Aladdin decided to turn down the position of Grand Vizier. His distress then increases when he is forcibly inducted into the Crew of the Highwind in order to secure his knowledge of dark magic in their quest to defeat the dark forces. From here on in, Iago provides a sarcastic, realistic, or cowardly perspective on events and is only really willing to face danger if great reward is promised. He is sometimes forced to battle his conscience, acting more noble than might be expected. He later participates in the final battle of the World of Emptiness, and is returned to his home-world with his friends thanks to the power of the Door to Heaven. Encoded Truths The Fantasmic Dreamtime Return of the Keyblade Appearance Though it is not mentioned in the movie what species of parrot Iago is, he strongly resembles a plump scarlet macaw. Most of his plumage is red, except for his tail and the tips of the first four feathers on each wing (Iago uses these feathers as "fingers"). Iago's sclera are yellow and his eyes are surrounded by a white, featherless area. He also has a large, yellow-orange beak and orange talons. His similarities to real-world birds end there, however. Iago's talons have three toes arranged in such a way that he has two in the front and one in the back, as opposed to real macaws having four toes, two in the front and two in the back. He has a thick black "uni-brow" and three thin, black feathers sprouting out of the top of his head. Iago's eyes are also set facing forward, unlike any species of macaw (and most species of birds). Arguably the biggest difference between Iago and other birds is the fact that he has straight, white teeth in his beak like a human, and his tongue is rather human-like as well. Personality Iago is a cowardly parrot, who is often frustrated and vocalizes his anger freely. Iago is scared quite easily, especially by the person he fears the most—Jafar. Iago is very loyal to Jafar, mainly due to the immense fear of punishment he would receive should he fail his master. Although Iago gives off a "tough guy" exterior, he has a good heart, as seen in the return to Agrabah in Empire of Dreams, when Iago shields Aladdin from one of Jafar's attacks, nearly sacrificing himself. Gallery Sloc1021.jpg|Iago forcibly disguised as Pinocchio in Prankster's Paradise Category:Heroes Category:Anti-Heroes Category:Neutral Category:Reformed Characters Category:Crew Members of the Highwind Category:Half Member of The Hellfire Organization Category:Henchmen Category:Creeper's Gang of Idiots Category:Sidekicks Category:Magic Users Category:Birds Category:Tricksters Category:Thieves Category:Jafar's Faction